France Takes a Stand on the Health of Fashion Models

Will it have an impact on other countries?

The health of models in the fashion industry has been a hotly debated issue for years, and now the French government is taking action to ensure that their wellbeing is protected. Just this morning, they officially passed a law that prohibits excessively thin models from working, and will subject the agents and companies that employ them to fines and even jail time.

This comes as part of a larger initiative backed by President Francois Hollande to stop the promotion of anorexia in the country. Models will have to present a medical certificate that shows a body mass index (BMI) of at least 18, which is the lowest BMI in the healthy range. A separate measure will also make it illegal to condone anorexia, a law that is targeted at Internet sites that promote dangerous weight loss.

France is not the first country to enact legislation that takes a stance against too-skinny models. Israel, as well as Madrid's regional government, both passed similar BMI-based regulations in recent years. And in 2012, Diane von Furstenberg and the CFDA released their list of model guidelines, aiming to protect models from unhealthy expectations.

Unfortunately, this won't change things over night, but this is certainly a major step in the right direction—bravo, France.